There was a time, during the early 90s, when Super Mario was the most recognized name in entertainment. The "Q Ratings," designed to measure market recognition of well-established brands, had Mario at the very top of the list, above even Mickey Mouse. Times have changed, of course, and Nintendo no longer dominates the gaming industry the way they once did, but even so, Mario remains one of the most visible characters in gaming.

So much so, in fact, that he was widely considered key to the potential success of the GameCube launch. Along with the Zelda and Pokémon franchises, Mario remains one of the most visible cornerstones of the Nintendo empire.

However, in addition to being one of the best-selling names in gaming, he's also among the most versatile. Heck, about the only type of game he hasn't done has been a first-person shooter. He's been a tennis player, and a golfer. He's been a doctor, for goodness' sake. He's been a go-kart racer, and along with his well-loved platformers, he's even been the star of three excellent RPGs: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the SNES, Paper Mario on the N64, and the instant GBA classic, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

I said three, but from the looks of things, we may want to clear room on that mantle. During the run-up to E3, Nintendo announced a sequel to that N64 gem, with the forthcoming Paper Mario 2. The thing is, Paper Mario 2 draws fairly heavily both from the original Paper Mario and the aforementioned Mario & Luigi.

Like Paper Mario, Paper Mario 2 takes place in two dimensions, and looks absolutely stunning in the process. The backgrounds, while they resemble traditional Mario fare, are bright and brilliant, as breathtaking as anything I've yet seen on the GameCube. That's only half the story, though, as the "paper" effects from the original game are back, sporting improvements. For example, at Hooktail Castle, the drawbridge is out, leaving Mario without a conventional way across. The solution? Find a way to the top of the gate, and Mario can transform into a paper airplane and glide across. Of course, while Mario certainly has the ability to contort himself to solve the puzzles, there will be times when a little environmental manipulation is necessary, as well.

So that's the Paper Mario influence, but as I said, some of the gameplay dynamics we saw in Superstar Saga are also present. For one thing, you've got a buddy tagging along, just as Luigi did in Superstar Saga. The obvious difference is, your companion this time isn't Luigi. It's a pink Goomba, instead. Like Luigi, she's there to help out in combat situations, but she'll evidently have a few other tricks up her sleeves, as well. While playing the E3 demo, randomly pushing buttons caused her to say "What? You think I'm actually going to reveal all my tricks to you at the show?!" If I had to guess, I'd say that probably has to do with a combo attack, similar to the Bros Attacks from Superstar Saga, but obviously, time will tell.

Also present from Superstar Saga is the combat system...kinda. The various bad guys roam the environment, just as they always have, and like Superstar Saga, touching them triggers the traditional turn-based RPG combat round. Using a jump or a hammer attack is the equivalent of a first strike, causing preliminary damage and giving you the advantage in the round to come, but fair warning: goombas and the like can sneak up on you, too, and do the same.

This is where things start to depart slightly, however. Yeah, you still have a circular menu from which to select your combat options, but there's more strategy involved. For example, where Superstar Saga gave you the ability to do extra damage on attacks AND minimize (or completely avoid) damage of your own on defense, Paper Mario 2 appears to split that up.

Attacking is a matter of choosing whether you want a jump attack or a hammmer attack, followed by the successful completion of a mini-game, similar to the button combos used for Mario and Luigi's special attacks in Superstar Saga. Similar, but not identical. Where Superstar Saga was a simple pattern of button presses (albeit a pattern that grew faster, and removed the on-screen prompts on the higher levels), Paper Mario 2 requires a little more dexterity. For example, the simplest attacks may require holding the control stick to the left until enough circles have lit up, followed by the attack proper. As the attacks grow more difficult, it may be necessary to stop a sliding bar on a meter - think free throws on older basketball games - or else to line up moving crosshairs. Similar, in its own fashion, and yet it's still a different form of dexterity.

Successfully repelling an attack, on the other hand, requires you to select 'defense' and then press the "A" button with the proper timing in order to avoid inbound attacks. I say strategy, because it's no longer sufficient to simply try your most powerful attacks and then counter on defense. Instead, you have to weigh whether the ability to dish out damage is worth being left open to attack, and choose accordingly.

If that were all there was to the combat system, it'd still be an interesting change of pace, but thankfully, there is more. The real element of change, you see, isn't how the combat unfolds. Rather, it's the where that's relevant: all the world's a stage, as they say. Apparently Mario took that a little too literally.

Either that, or he's got some kind of Narcissus complex, either way. Combat unfolds on a stage, which seems odd at first, but quickly begins to make sense...kinda. The audience is interactive, after a fashion, as they respond to the events on screen. If you're performing well, you'll win the favor of the audience, and they'll respond by dropping buckets on the heads of your enemies, and even by tossing you power-ups. Said power-ups take famiilar forms. A mushroom, for example, grants health. Now, while star power helps in terms of that extra assistance, it can also work against you to a degree, since star power also attracts larger audiences.

And, of course, since the audience can easily turn against you if your performance isn't quite up to snuff, there's a very real incentive to keep the crowd happy. Otherwise, you may find that it's your own heads upon which the buckets rain, and you may even find yourself pelted with trash.

Still, even should you find yourself in that situation, all is not lost. In addition to the Attack and Defend options, you can also Appeal to the crowd. Performing an Appeal raises your star power, and, at least, temporarily appeases the crowd. 'Course, should you see somebody preparing to throw trash at you, you can also go down and beat them up. Nice guy, that Mario.

Expectations. As the years have passed, I've learned not to let them depend too much upon what I see at E3. There have been games, such as Star Trek: Shattered Universe, that raised those expectations initially, only to cruelly shatter them on the concrete of reality. There have also been games that initially looked like ass which have since developed to the point that they now show varying degrees of promise. Game design is a funny world, and those we charge with the creation of our addictions are not always given the time perfection demands. Paper Mario 2, though, looks to be one of those games that will not only meet the expectations I have (in spite of myself), but perhaps even exceed them.

One of the GameCube's early issues was that, well...lots of people were disenchanted with its primary franchises, or waiting for them to show up in the first place. Super Mario Sunshine wasn't the revolutionary next step for platformers that its predecessor had been. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was one of the more divisive games I've ever seen, with absolutely no middle ground: you either loved the game, graphical style and all, or you couldn't bring yourself to play it. Starfox Adventures managed to not only irritate people who were hoping for a return to the space opera glory days, but even as an adventure/platform title, it lacked that timeless quality so many Nintendo franchises enjoy.

Hope lingers, however. A new Zelda is coming. Donkey Kong has not one, but two games bound for the GameCube. The StarFox of old is poised to make its return, and Paper Mario 2 looks to be the dose of Mario excellence that GameCube owners so desperately wanted from Sunshine. If the October release date holds - and these are Nintendo release dates we're talking about - then an already promising holiday GameCube lineup ought to be downright phenomenal. We can't wait.